Presented here is
summary information just made public by the IRS about its declining
efforts to enforce the nation's tax laws. Much more detailed information
about the agency's audit and collection activities will soon be
coming from TRAC via the new edition of its public IRS web site
and its updated subscription sites, TRACFED and FEDPROBE.
Here are the key findings:
•
Audit Examinations. The national audit rate for FY 2000—the
number of individual returns examined in comparison to the number
of returns filled—continued to decline. This was true for all
individual taxpayers and those earning $100,000 or more as well
as for corporations. (See graphic or tables on audit rates and number of audits.)
•
Collection Enforcement Actions. The use of levies
declined sharply. Seizures remained at historic low levels, while
liens rebounded slightly. Also down were installment agreements.
(See graphic or table.)
•
Staffing. IRS staff continued to decline in FY 2000, with
the number of revenue agents and tax auditors dropping a little
more than 20% since 1995. Collection revenue officers also declined.
In releasing the summary data, Commissioner
Charles O. Rossotti said in a statement the agency was "deeply
concerned" about the continued drop in examination and
collection activities.
TRAC is a non-partisan data gathering, research
and data-distribution organization associated with Syracuse University.
TRAC has been supported by the University, the Rockefeller Family
Fund, the New York Times Company Foundation, the John S. and James
L. Knight Foundation and many other organizations.
WWW: http://trac.syr.edu
E-mail: trac@syr.edu
Washington, D.C.: Suite 200, 1718 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., 20009
Tel. (202)518-9000
Syracuse: 488 Newhouse II, Syracuse, NY 13244-2100 Tel. (315) 443-3563
